Sweden made England's embarrassment on Saturday look even more acute by winning in Bulgaria last night. The win maintained their 100 per cent record and moved them level with Poland at the top of Group Five.
After England's slip-up in Sweden last month, the Swedes knew a win in the Black Sea town of Burgas would let them to steal a march on Glenn Hoddle's side.
Henrik Larsson succeeded where England had failed at Wembley by finding a way past Zdravko Zdravkov. The Celtic striker ran on to a chipped pass from Arsenal's Fredrik Ljungberg and rounded the Bulgaria goalkeeper before scoring from a tight angle in the 62nd minute.
Zdravkov made a spectacular save in the 32nd minute to deny Arsenal's Fredrik Ljungberg after a bright opening by Bulgaria which saw Hristo Stoichkov and Valentin Naidenov waste good opportunities.
Sweden, who dominated last night's encounter, next face Luxembourg. Bulgaria are virtually out of the race having lost at home to both front-runners.
Bulgaria: Zdravkov, Petkov, Zagorcic, Naidenov (Ivanov 68), Yordanov, Yankov, Kirilov (Parushev 17), Stoichkov, Hristov, Petkov, Iliev (Bachev 60).
Sweden: Hedman, Nilsson, Andersson, Bjorklund, Lucic (Sundgren 74), Scwarz, Mild, Mjallby, Ljungberg, Larsson (Erlingmark 87), Aslund (Blomqvist 70).
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